April 04, 2024
Jim Rassol/USA TODAY Sports
For the first time since the end of January, Sixers All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey shared the floor Thursday night in Miami.
The Sixers are on a quest to nab the Eastern Conference's sixth overall seed and avoid the NBA's Play-In Tournament. Their most important contest left on the schedule came Thursday night, when they traveled to Miami seeking to tie their season series with the Heat at 2-2 and pull closer to that sixth seed.
The Sixers controlled the majority of the game, but seemed like they were on the verge of falling short despite excellent showings from their two returning All-Stars. But they pulled off a remarkable effort in the game's final minutes, and it was just enough to nab an absolutely massive victory. Here is what jumped out from the 109-105 victory.
Joel Embiid was available for this one, his second contest since returning from his left meniscus injury, after being a game-time decision. Tyrese Maxey, who missed two straight games with a hip injury, made his return — marking the first time in more than two months that the team's two All-Stars shared the floor.
Tobias Harris, who hurt his knee late in Tuesday's win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, was ruled out for this game. Nic Batum started in his place alongside Maxey, Embiid, Kyle Lowry and Kelly Oubre Jr.
With two NBA roster spots remaining open, the Sixers converted two-way guard Jeff Dowtin Jr. to a standard NBA contract on Thursday, according to a report from ESPN's Tim Bontemps. Two-way players are not eligible for the NBA playoffs, so converting Dowtin was a must if the Sixers wanted to have him as some playoff insurance at the guard spot.
With one roster spot remaining open, the smart money is on the Sixers also converting two-way wing Ricky Council IV to a standard deal, perhaps one that cements his place on the Sixers' roster for years to come.
Maxey and Embiid formed the NBA's highest-scoring duo prior to Embiid's extended absence, and they picked up right where they left off Thursday. Miami scored 29 points in the first quarter; the Sixers' two cornerstone pieces combined for 28 (the Sixers scored 39 in the period collectively).
Maxey scored 15 points in the quarter, including three triples — two of which coming consecutively in the opening minutes, and the last of which coming on a gorgeous step-back later on in the period. Exactly as most expected, he instantly took full advantage of being able to play alongside Embiid, who now attracts the majority of the attention of the defense — which was all directed towards Maxey over the last two months.
Embiid started his night with a few mid-range jumpers, where he is often at his best as a scorer — easily discarding an elite defender in Bam Adebayo. He knocked down his first triple since returning, and then flashed what might be a new weapon — converting consecutive one-handed floaters like a guard. Embiid expanding his offensive repertoire seems like an impossibility, but stay tuned.
As the game progressed, Maxey and Embiid only got more comfortable. Each one thrived from all areas on the floor — they were lethal from beyond the arc, in the mid-range and around the rim.
Things are never easy against the Miami Heat — and the team that has often served as the Sixers' kryptonite over the years surged early in the second quarter, opening the period on a 10-2 run and eventually going from down by as much as 15 to commanding the lead for minutes at a time.
The Heat largely did all of this thanks to their bench: former Sixer two-way wing Haywood Highsmith scored in double-figures in the first half, and all three of their other reserve rotation pieces — rookie Jamie Jacquez Jr., Caleb Martin and Kevin Love — all made important plays on both ends of the floor.
Miami led by as many as three — and just a handful of minutes later, the Sixers led by 16. They put up a masterful 17-1 run over a period of about four minutes. Maxey and Embiid were, predictably, the ones who carried the scoring load — and the duo ended the first half with a combined 45 points on 18-28 shooting (including 6-12 from three-point range).
A series of end-of-quarter jumpers, punctuated by a buzzer-beating three from Terry Rozier, trimmed the Sixers' lead down to eight at halftime. But the Sixers were once again in firm control of the game thanks to their two main cogs.
Batum was incredibly impressive in his first several weeks as a Sixer, quickly cementing himself as a starter. But after Embiid went down, his impact on the game waned, leading to him becoming a bench fixture.
Batum started in Harris' place tonight and was outstanding. He served multiple roles on defense — at times chasing around and limiting Miami sharpshooter Duncan Robinson (which he also did incredibly well the last time these teams matched up), and at other times defending ball-handlers in Rozier and Heat superstar Jimmy Butler.
Batum's season-high in assists entering this game was six. He matched that on Thursday night... in the first half. Batum's post entry passing is absolutely exquisite, as he is frequently able to set up Embiid for easy looks — which is no easy feat.
With Embiid back in the lineup, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse should strongly consider reinserting Batum into the starting lineup. There are cases to be made for benching Harris or Oubre — Oubre feels more likely given he opened the season as a reserve, while Harris has exclusively started as a member of the Sixers — assuming Lowry's presence in the starting five is locked in (as it should be).
As most know by now, Harris is in the final season of an infamous five-year, $180 million contract. He is the 19th-highest paid player in the entire NBA, and has looked like anything but that. It has never been a secret that Harris is overpaid, but he was still a positive contributor for the most part. Over the last several weeks, he simply has not been.
This contest was the sixth that Harris missed since the start of February. At least anecdotally, it feels as if the Sixers have had considerably better ball movement than they regularly do in each of those games. The fact is this: Harris has the play-style of an elite scorer but the ability of a good-but-not-great player. That lack of self-awareness lends itself to ball-stopping and indecisiveness, which is the exact opposite of what Nurse and his staff are aiming for when they built their offense around Maxey and Embiid.
Harris very well may remain in the starting lineup for the remainder of the year, even if just for the sake of not causing distractions. But he simply cannot play a starter's heavy workload in the playoffs if he does not learn to blend into the Sixers' offense rather than sticking out like a sore thumb.
The Sixers were the vastly superior team for the majority of this game. In fact, across 33 of the first 36 minutes, they outscored the Heat by 16 points. But in the final minute of each of the three quarters, Miami outscored the Sixers by a combined 17 points. It was almost an unfathomably bad collapse by the Sixers in all three of those moments: silly turnovers, missed open looks and open Miami jumpers all coalesced into three separate unmitigated disasters. In their biggest game of the season, just a few minutes were responsible for the Sixers' downfall.
But then, in the final four minutes or so of the fourth quarter, the Sixers erupted. Their run was ignited by consecutive baskets -- a layup in transition and a corner triple — from Oubre. They retook the lead for the first time in the fourth quarter, and never looked back, thanks to Embiid, Maxey and Oubre's excellence.
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